-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal 's swipe at federal spending to monitor volcanoes has the mayor of one city in the shadow of Mount St. Helens fuming .

Gov. Bobby Jindal says spending for the U.S. Geological Survey is questionable .

`` Does the governor have a volcano in his backyard ? '' Royce Pollard , the mayor of Vancouver , Washington , said on Wednesday . `` We have one that 's very active , and it still rumbles and spits and coughs very frequently . ''

Jindal singled out a $ 140 million appropriation for the U.S. Geological Survey as an example of questionable government spending during the GOP response to President Obama 's address to Congress Tuesday night .

The governor , a rising Republican star , questioned why `` something called ` volcano monitoring ' '' was included in the nearly $ 800 billion economic stimulus bill Obama signed earlier this month . Watch `` Is Jindal prime-time ready ? '' ''

`` Instead of monitoring volcanoes , what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington , '' Jindal said .

But Marianne Guffanti , a volcano researcher at the U.S. Geological Survey , said , `` We do n't throw the money down the crater of the volcano and watch it burn up . ''

The USGS , which received the money Jindal criticized , is monitoring several active volcanoes across the Pacific Northwest , Alaska and Hawaii . One of those is Mount St. Helens , about 70 miles north of Vancouver , Washington , and neighboring Portland , Oregon .

The volcano killed 57 people when it erupted in 1980 and sputters back into action periodically , most recently in late 2004 and early 2005 , when it sent plumes of steam and ash thousands of feet into the air .

USGS researchers are also keeping a close eye on Alaska 's Mount Redoubt volcano , about 100 miles from Anchorage , which is predicted to go off again within a few months . Its last eruption , in 1989 , disrupted air traffic and forced down a commercial jet that sucked ash into its engines .

`` If we can give good information about what 's happening , that system of diversions and cancellations all works much more efficiently , '' Guffanti said . `` And fewer people are delayed and standard business is resumed quickly . ''

Louisiana is no stranger to natural disasters itself , having been devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 . But Timmy Teepell , Jindal 's chief of staff , said the governor stands by his statement .

`` That was just one example of wasteful spending in the largest government spending bill in history , '' Teepell said . `` The governor made it clear that we need to grow jobs , not government . '' iReport.com : Share your thoughts on Obama , Jindal speeches

The $ 140 million line-item for the USGS includes not only monitoring , but also replacement of aging equipment `` and other critical deferred maintenance and improvement projects . ''

The spending could provide new jobs `` no different than the amount of money you would spend on building a street or building a bridge or something , '' said Danny Boston , an economist at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta , Georgia .

Pollard , a former Army officer who has served as Vancouver 's mayor for 14 years , said USGS equipment used to keep tabs on volcanoes is frequently damaged or destroyed . He said he was n't sure how many jobs the money could produce , but , `` For us and the people who live closer to it than Vancouver , it 's important . '' iReport.com : Jindal 's tone ` insulting '

`` We lost lives the last time , and we could lose them again , '' he said .

CNN 's Brian Todd and Matt Smith contributed to this report .

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Jindal stands by statement that volcano appropriation is questionable

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Mayor of Vancouver , Washington , says volcano near his town still spits , coughs

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`` We do n't throw the money down the crater of the volcano , '' researcher says

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$ 140 million appropriation for U.S. Geological Survey also used on equipment